Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have “forcibly seized” a commercial ship in international waters in the Gulf that was possibly involved in smuggling, according to United States Navy.
The Bahrain-based US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said in a statement on Thursday that it monitored the incident but assessed the circumstances “did not warrant further response”.
“US forces remain vigilant and ready to protect navigational rights of lawful maritime traffic in the Middle East’s critical waters,” US 5th Fleet spokesperson Commander Tim Hawkins said.
Iran has not commented on the incident.
British maritime security company Ambrey said it was aware of an attempted seizure by Iranian forces of a small Tanzanian-flagged tanker, about 59 nautical miles (about 110km) northeast of the Saudi Arabian port city of Dammam.
“Iran regularly intercepts smaller tankers it suspects of smuggling oil,” the company added in a note.
Link from www.aljazeera.com